The Rulers of Croquet
by xxstarsnowxx
Summary: Ever seen 'Nunnally in Wonderland', the Code Geass spin off? Ever wonder what happened after Nunnally left Charles, Euphemia and Schneizel (excuse me, the King of Hearts, White Queen and Red King) behind to sort out their arguments over how the sport should be played? Well I now present to you 'The Rulers of Croquet'.
1. Chapter 1

**Ever wonder what happens to those playing the game of croquet? I sure have, so I took the liberty of making my own endings. Here are the three different endings - one for each character participating - that could occur. Enjoy!**

 **Just a reminder...**

 **King of Hearts=Charles**

 **Queen of Hearts=Marianne**

 **White King=Cornelia**

 **White Queen=Euphemia**

 **Red King=Schneizel**

 **Red Queen=Kanon**

 **Prince of Hearts=V.V.**

* * *

"Clearly my queen and I are right in our thinking: Croquet should only be enjoyed by the nobility," the King of Hearts declared. "And therefore, we will prove this through a three way croquet battle against you, White Queen and Red King."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," the Queen of Hearts responded. "Of course, my dear, you will be victorious."

The King of Hearts beamed at his wife and prepared the castle grounds for the croquet game. "It will be a classic figure eight setup," the King proclaimed, gathering his two competitors to the starting line. "As the host, I will pick my colors and begin the game."

He chose black, like the clubs and spades suits that adorned his house. The White Queen chose white for herself, while the Red King decided on red.

"How original," the White King muttered from the sidelines.

"Wait one second," the White Queen told her fellow competitors. "We should agree ahead of time to meet again in one month here at these castle grounds to assess the outcome of this game, be it only for nobility-"

The King of Hearts nodded.

"-for world domination-"

The Red King smirked.

"-or for the use of all," she finished with a smile.

"We agree," the other two Kings said in unison.

"I know what we're missing!" the Red Queen shouted. "We need an official announcer!"

"I am your host, why can't I be the announcer?" the King of Hearts complained.

"You can't do everything dear," his wife crooned. "Just focus on your game or chop! Off with your head!"

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Good thing I, the Prince of Hearts, am here to do justice in announcing this match!" From behind the Queen of Hearts, the short blond boy appeared and sought the open position.

"Permission granted," the King of Hearts thundered, not bothering to wait for a group consensus on the matter.

"Then let the game begin!" shrieked the Prince.

The game began in earnest. "And the White Queen is off to an early lead with the Red King close behind. The King of Hearts is trailing them. What is going on?!" The Prince clearly was biased toward his father. But that is besides the point.

"Oh, oh, did you see that? The Red King has just taken over the lead! He and the White Queen have passed through the middle of the figure eight design. The King of Hearts still trails. GET YOUR GAME ON DAD!"

"Hey, can you at least _try_ not to be completely biased?" the White King demanded. "An announcer is supposed to give a scope of whats going on in the game, not insert their own personal agendas."

The Prince of Hearts gulped and tried harder. "At this point the game is halfway over. The King of Hearts has caught up to the others and the race is now neck to neck going into the second half of the match. All the competitors are clearly giving it their all!"

"For the people!" shouted the White Queen, nailing a hit with her mallet that sent her white ball through the upcoming wicket.

"For world domination!" the Red King proclaimed, following right behind the Queen.

"For me!" the King of Hearts declared, sailing his ball past the other two and into almost-perfect position for the next wicket.

"The others have managed to somehow on accident knock the King of Heart's ball into perfect position. If he nails this, he begins the home stretch for the win," the commentator commentated.

A hush fell over the audience.

"Only the final two wickets to go. The King of Hearts has a solid lead. If he makes this shot, it's game over for the other two," the Prince said in a hushed voice.

The King of Hearts lined up his shot, hit the ball with a resounding 'whack' of his mallet, and all in attendance heart the 'crack' of the ball hitting the stake.

"The King of Hearts has won!" the Prince rejoiced. "Croquet is only to be played by the nobility!"

All of the castle rejoiced as the White Queen left in defeat with her King on their vehicle, and the Damocles sailed off with the Red King and Queen inside.

"We did it my dear, we can finally walk the grounds without having commoner rabble dirty the place up." The King of Hearts was proud of his victory and counted on his Queen to stroke his ego further.

"That you did, honey, that you did."


	2. Chapter 2

**King of Hearts=Charles**

 **Queen of Hearts=Marianne**

 **White King=Cornelia**

 **White Queen=Euphemia**

 **Red King=Schneizel**

 **Red Queen=Kanon**

 **Prince of Hearts=V.V.**

 **White Knight=Suzaku**

* * *

It had been exactly one month since the first great croquet game ended in the victory of the King of Hearts, and only nobility was allowed to play it at all. The King, Queen, and Prince of Hearts were doing exactly that when the White Queen showed up with her King in tow.

"What are you doing here?" thundered the King of Hearts.

"Now now dear, she is nobility too, therefore under our stipulations she is allowed to play," the Queen of Hearts reprimanded.

"Correct," the White Queen replied. "And I am here to challenge you once again as we agreed."

"Agreed?" the King asked loudly.

"Yes. Do you not recall that all of us agreed to meet up here again for a rematch exactly one month after our first game?"

"I remembered," a voice called down from above. The Red King and Queen had arrived on the Damocles. "Let us commence with our rematch."

The King of Hearts frowned and was about to argue again, but his Queen reminded him that he had easily won the first one. Why not do the same in the second one?

"We are all agreed then," the White Queen noted. "Let us set up the game. I will be the host this time."

Each competitor chose the same color as last time and over on the side lines, the White King muttered again, "How original..."

As the stakes were hammered in and the wickets set up again in the classic figure eight, the Red King slapped down three large piles of documents before each competitor, including himself. "This is an agreement form stating that this game will provide a conclusive decision on what is to be done afterward."

"You mean it states that whoever wins gets their way?" inquired the White Queen.

The Red King shrugged. "That would be a simpler way of putting it."

The King of Hearts leafed through quickly and signed the last page, as did the White Queen. The Red King simply skipped to the back page and signed. He _had_ written the document after all...

"Now that that garbage is signed, we can finally beg-"

"Wait!" came the voice of the Red Queen. "We need an announcer for this match!"

The White King face-palmed. "This again?"

"I will be your announcer!" squealed the Prince of Hearts. "I did a good job last time, didn't I?"

"NO!" came the resounding response of the assembled crowd.

"Hmm..." The White Queen thought for a moment. "I am your host for this game, so I will decide who shall announce." She scanned a thoughtful eye across the crowd.

One man stood up. "White Queen, I beseech you to choose me as your representative to act as announcer."

"Request granted, White Knight," the Queen replied with a smile.

The crowd started whispering amongst themselves. "The White Queen has always favored the White Knight."

"But he's one of the most respected in the world!"

"The Knight of Zero, he is called."

They all simmered down as said person they were talking about took the front stage and began to announce the game. "It seems that this time the King of Hearts has started off in the lead. The Red King and White Queen are close behind him though. This will most certainly be a tough and close match for the competitors."

"Ha ha! That's my King!" the Queen of Hearts laughed from the sidelines. The Prince of Hearts was beside her, still sulking about not being chosen as the announcer.

"The Kings and Queen are now passing through the middle wicket, meaning they have completed one quarter of the game's length. As they approach the final two wickets before the half-way-point stake, they are all so close together there is no way to tell who is winning. The leader changes with each stroke of the mallet!"

A hush fell over the crowd as the King of Hearts, Red King, and White Queen all touched the half-way point.

"Now for the journey back. Who will pull out this victory?" the White Knight had so far manged not to put his opinions into his commentary as the Prince of Hearts had. "The White Queen is beginning to surge ahead going into the final leg. She passes through the middle wicket with one quick tap of the mallet. But the Red King and King of Hearts are not trailing far behind. Yes folks, this appears to be one of those games that will go down to the final stroke."

"The King of Hearts is up for his stroke. If he places this one perfectly, his next stroke will gain him victory for the second time amongst these competitors." The White Knight fell silent as the King lined up his stroke. He hit the ball perfectly on-line, but too hard. It sailed past what would have been a perfect position as the King groaned in anguish. Victory had slipped through his hands!

"The Red King now lines up his shot." This time, he hit just a few feet too short of the perfect range; opposite of the King of Hearts.

"And now, if the White Queen can make this shot, she will have the victory on her next stroke," noted the White Knight. "And she makes it!" Fans of the Queen in the crowd cheered. Two strokes later, as the King of Hearts and Red King frantically tried to make up for their earlier mistakes, the White Queen took her victory.

"Thank you, thank you," she told the crowd, taking the microphone from the White Knight, who bowed and kissed her hand in a very chivalrous way.

The White King frowned. Was that a slight blush on the Queen's face?

"I am proud to announce that croquet is now open to all people!" the Queen proclaimed.

"Hooray!" shouted the crowd.

The King of Hearts was moping in the background as his Queen tried fruitlessly to console him in his grief. Though even she was upset that he had squandered the chance to keep the game of croquet open only to the nobility.

The Red King, though, did not seem as disappointed as he should have. Did he have something more planned?

Oh well, for now, thanks to the White Queen, croquet was open to all!


End file.
